Wealthy Investor Is Trump’s Choice to Rebuild the Navy

As he fills senior positions in his incoming administration, President-elect Donald Trump often has turned to wealthy investors with ties to elite Republican circles in Palm Beach and New York.

- BRIAN SCHWARTZ Anp Nancy A. YOUSSEF

Trump's Navy-secretary John Phelan, a nominee, money manager and philanthropist who owns a mansion in Florida just miles from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, checks all those boxes.

What Phelan doesn't have, however, is substantial national-security experience. That has prompted concern from Navy officials who worry that he might be underprepared to take on the many problems plaguing the maritime service branch. Trump's decision to select Phelan also perplexed some of Phelan's longtime friends.

Phelan has experience running charities that help those in the Central Intelligence Agency and the military. He is the chairman of the Third Option Foundation, a nonprofit group that was established nearly 10 years ago to support officers and families of the CIA's Special Activities Center, according to the group's website and 2023 tax records. The SAC is a division within the CIA that handles covert and paramilitary operations. He is also a board member of Spirit of America, a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military and diplomatic personnel, according to the latest public tax records.

Phelan didn't respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Trump's transition team said the president-elect wants Phelan to "switch up how things are done" at the Navy. "There's plenty of experience in the military ranks at the Department, but John Phelan will be the game-changing, businessminded leader the Navy needs." Trump has promised to build the strongest Navy in history to lead the U.S. effort to fight threats from China.

But the Navy is struggling to keep pace with Beijing as Chinese President Xi Jinping bolsters his country's fleet.